Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you ever go “way back” to when you first started blogging and look at your old review posts? Do you see any differences from then to now?

My earliest posts really are pretty far back by now–since I’ve been writing this blog for almost seven years!  I look back occasionally, when I want to see what I said about something that comes to mind again, to reference with a link back if a topic comes up now, or to choose a Classic Review to repost.

I don’t think my taste has changed hugely since I started blogging.  It may have become broader–I read less YA and more nonfiction, and the various challenges I’ve had over the years have influenced the more specific topics I may have covered (like fairy tales or parallel universes).  But overall, if I liked a book way back when, I still like it now–and if I disliked one, well, I probably haven’t reread it, but I usually still think I had good points.

My reviewing has become more immediate.  In early blog days I did more reviewing of favorite books I hadn’t reread recently.  It didn’t take long, though, to realize that it’s a lot easier reviewing a book I just read, so that shifted pretty fast.

The biggest difference to me may be subtle to other people.  I think I’m more confident in my reviews now.  At first I think I felt a need to defend my opinion–now, I still will tell you why I like or dislike something, but it doesn’t feel like an assertion so much as a statement.  That may not look very different to anyone else, but I can see it!

Readers who are also book bloggers, do you ever go back farther?  How has your reviewing change?

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Have you ever read a book or books you would consider ‘toxic’ because of the effect it (they) had on you? If so, which one(s)?

Ooh, what an interesting question!  There are definitely books I’ve found disturbing.  Lolita comes to mind–it was assigned in a class (on American Literature, which I still don’t understand considering Nabokov was Russian) and to this day I’m glad that I got it at the library and didn’t spend money on it.  If you’re (fortunately) unfamiliar with the book, it centers around an adult man’s sexual obsession (and relationship) with an adolescent girl, and it would be less disturbing if Nabokov was a less talented author.  One classmate described it as like watching maggots feed–compelling and horrible both at once.

The Da Vinci Code is toxic in a different way.  It makes me angry–I have an entire rant on the subject of mixing historical fact with theory with utter fiction, sometimes all in one paragraph, without any distinguishing between them.  On the other hand, the phrase “giant albino monk” gets funnier every time I say it.  Not a funny character, but the sheer absurdity of it lightens my mood.

In general I’m disturbed by books that feature sexual violence or child abuse, although I’ve discovered I find those more disturbing in fiction than nonfiction (it’s a stylistic difference).  I can read more in analytical texts (usually taking it on from a psychological analysis) than I can in fiction, though that depends on the level of detail.  And I think we all know that I’m deeply disturbed by fiction involving abusive relationships presented as romantic!

I also have a particular tic against books that address the reader in a hostile or belittling way.  I love books that talk directly to the reader if they’re friendly, but if the narrator is nasty or insulting to the reader?  Yeah, I know not to take it personally, but I still don’t like how it feels.  Part of the appeal of books is that they aren’t judgmental or unfriendly.

Have you read books that feel toxic to you?  What characteristics would make a book toxic?

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: In one sentence, describe your passion for reading.

I read to learn–to escape–to relax–to meet people and journey to places I could never otherwise encounter–to have an adventure I know I can return home from safely.

(That was really hard and I think I cheated with the dashes. Also–your turn 🙂 )

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: If you are at a really good point in a book and the phone rings or the door bell rings, do you stop reading or let the phone or door bell go unanswered?

I am not positive this has ever come up.  I’m an introvert with largely introvert friends, so–no one ever rings my doorbell unexpectedly, and even phone calls are rare (texts are a different story, but they also come with a different expectation about urgency of responding).  However!  I think the real question here is how easy it is to interrupt my reading, and the answer is–extremely!

I’m used to reading in snatches.  Ten minutes here, fifteen there, two minutes in line at the grocery store.  So really, that means I’m used to putting books down.  My brain stores where I was in the story quite effectively, and I can pick books up again and resume (I even have an instinct for where to look at the page to resume–if I fight it and try to consciously look for the spot where I stopped, I end up hunting around on the page only to finally realize it was very close to where my eyes initially landed.  Truth!)

That doesn’t mean I’m always happy to set a book down, especially if things are getting intense, or something is about to be revealed.  But generally I’ll do it if something comes up that means I need to stop reading for now.

Except for the last two hundred pages of almost any Juliet Marillier book.  Those things are intense!!!